Jeff Dunham headed to Connecticut

Linda Tuccio-Koonz

Published 3:56 pm, Monday, December 23, 2013

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Jeff Dunham, the internationally renowned comedian who makes ventriloquism cool, brings his worldwide âÄúDisorderly ConductâÄù tour to HartfordâÄôs XL Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, for a 3 p.m. show. He's seen here with some of his comedic sidekicks. less

Interviewing a comedian can be tricky. Sure they do comedy professionally, and so they don't always have to be "on." But still, you find yourself expecting a rollicking, humorous conversation, along with some seriousness.

The famed comedian, who makes ventriloquism cool, brings his worldwide "Disorderly Conduct" tour to Hartford's XL Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31. He'll have his usual sidekicks, such as Walter (the grumpy retiree), Achmed the Dead Terrorist, the manic purple creature called Peanut and Little Jeff (Peanut's own ventriloquist dummy).

But there's also a new character; he's a coffee addict and he's so new, he doesn't have a name yet.

While Dunham's show is on New Year's Eve, it's not a late-night event like you might expect; it's at 3 p.m. He planned it that way so folks can make a day of it -- see the show and then go to dinner and a party.

The timing also allows Dunham, 51, and his new wife, Audrey Murdick, to jet off to see his parents that night in Texas. They're 80-plus years old, he said, of the couple who adopted and raised him.

"We'll get there late; I hope they're still awake," said Dunham. "If not, we'll tell them they were!"

Dunham and Murdick married a year ago in October, and she travels with him.

"She's a personal trainer and a nutrition consultant," he said, adding that she helps keep him and his act on track. "We eat healthy 90-, 95-percent of the time."

That's about the same percentage of what's new in his show, he said. The day we spoke, Dunham said his new coffee addict dummy had been seen before in only two performances.

"He's completely stressed out and he's turning into my most favorite character," Dunham said, gleefully. "I don't know his name; I call him The Coffee Guy."

Dunham came up with the idea years ago when coffee wasn't such a big deal, but didn't do much with it.

"Now there's a Starbucks on every corner. People around the world can identify with coffee addiction -- `Oh, I didn't have my coffee yet!' " he said, with mock horror.

During his shows, Dunham's fans enjoy it when he starts to crack up a bit and loses his composure during a routine.

"If there's ad-libbing, it's more interesting and unique. That's how shows evolve," he said. "My tour manager's job is to write down all the new stuff if it's good. Nearly every really good joke at one time was an accident."

An example, he said, is the routine where he shows off his Little Jeff dummy; it started during his "Controlled Chaos" tour when Peanut said, "I'm a ventriloquist, too, and I have an ugly dummy," and it was a little version of Dunham.

The doll is a toy Dunham spent two years developing to sell with a DVD, so fans could practice ventriloquism. Sales weren't great.

"They're not inexpensive. It's not a $25-bobblehead. This is $125. I decided to demonstrate how it works in the middle of the show -- like a little commercial."

His ad-libbed conversation with Peanut turned out to be so uproarious, it's become a big part of his act.

"We built on it, and now it's like a giant snowball rolling downhill, and is one of my favorite parts of the show," Dunham said.

Dunham's fan base is huge. The New York Times Magazine declared him "the most successful comedian working in America."

His daughters (raised with his previous wife) are among those fans. Now 16, 18 and 22, they've grown to appreciate that what he does for a living is pretty cool.

Dunham has already performed everywhere from South Africa and Australia to Norway, France and Belgium.

"Now they're talking about taking the show to China and Israel," he said. "I've not been there, yet, but it's on the dance card."